Mousse's reckoning
by Ryoga Hibiki1
Summary: READ THIS OR MOUSSE SHALL KILL YOU!
1. The day begins

'Mousse...you see Shampoo's hairbrush?'. He was day dreaming. Thinking about how if he had her, all his other problems and difficulties in life would seem like specs, but her voice ironically pulled him back to reality from this tender thought. He could not bring himself to answer. 'Stupid Mousse.....You deaf as well as stupid now?..You good for nothing'. He knew she thought little of him, yet he could see no fault in her. To him, she was perfect, absolutely flawless. In his eyes, she could do no wrong. She was perfect. But today was different from normal days. Today was a day of sorrow for him. He lifted his head from his pillow, and slowly walked towards the window. The sun seemed to glow red, and light up the usual dull figures of Furinkan high school and the buildings that surrounded it, as if it were intentionally setting the tone of the day for him. He gazed into the distance, and realised that today would be, and should be, a day with some kind of reckoning for him. But then again, he knew that this day was not just about him. It was about respect. Shampoo stretched, and then calmly, yet gleefully skipped in the direction of the entrance door of the Cat cafe. She smiled to herself, knowing that on this day of no work, she could pursue her ultimate goal. She somehow seemed more determined than ever today. She took hold of the sign that lay on the door usually saying 'open' and cheerfully changed it round so it read 'closed'. She found this unusual in some ways, as it had been hardly ever that she closed the cafe unless there was some special reason. But why shouldn't she deserve a break, she worked hard daily, just as much as anybody. He was now lying silently upon his bed. He decided that as soon as the sun was truly up, he would embark on his quest. This time he would not fail. Not on this day.  
  
Ranma smiled in triumph as he walked along the street, along side an un- impressed Akane. 'It's nothing to be proud of I'll have you know..' she whispered under her breath. He said nothing, and just smiled, because he knew, just as she did, that words were not necessary. They both knew what he had done, and that it was not likely to be done again. 'So what if you caught P-Chan in my underwear draw?!?!, I mean, maybe he got lost, you know how he does that sometimes right?'. His eye twitched. 'Yeah I know how he does that sometimes alright...' he mumbled under his breath. To his dismay, Akane had heard. Her expression quickly turned from a look of annoyance, to full blown out angry. 'FOR THE LAST TIME, HE IS NOT LIKE RYOGA STUPID!' she shouted'. 'Oh boy..' Ranma let out in a very disappointed fashion. Just as he finished his response to Akane's outburst, he looked up to see that they had reached the front entrance of Furinkan high school. 'After you' Ranma hissed sarcastically. Akane walked by him, frowning at him as she did. He paused for a moment, and wondered why he was so cold to her. She was the most important thing in his life, yet he treated her as if she was some passing annoyance. He brought his head upwards, and turned his vision away from the ground, and up to the path ahead. He smiled, and ran ahead to catch up with her. Shortly after he had descended into the schools interior, a taller, yet strangely darker figure stood in his place, outside the main entrance of Furikan high school.  
  
Mousse looked forward, and then slowly descended along the path, treading carefully over the flowers popping up out of the path as he did.  
  
Ranma took his seat in class, intentionally sitting to the left of Akane. 'Lookin violent as ever Akane' he chuckled out. 'Shut it pervert!' she screamed. 'See? Angry and violent as usual'. She clenched both fists, braking the pencil which she held in one hand as she did.  
  
Mousse opened the main door, and stepped into the school. He wondered how he would find his target, as the school was not sparsely populated. He then heard footsteps, and instinctively turned to the direction of the sound. A lone, tall dark figure walked along the corridor, and appeared to be coming towards Mousse as if to pass him. Mousse recognised the figure, and realise that he would probably know the whereabouts of the one who he needed to seek out. As the tall figure tried to walk by, Mousse threw his hand out, and tightly held the passer by close to his own face. 'Where is Ranma Saotome?' Inquired Mousse defiantly. 'Unhand me you barbarian!' declared Tatewaki Kuno as he promptly removed himself from Mousse's grip. 'Where is he?' repeated Mousse. 'It matters not where the wretch Ranma Saotome resides at this current moment, for that is no longer your endeavour.' spouted Kuno almost poetically. 'Oh no?' said Mousse calmly. 'No, for you have dared to lay your hand upon Tatewaki Kuno, and for this outrage, your impertinence must be punished!' Kuno stated in a more up-tone voice from his previous speech. Out of no where, Kuno's wooden sword seemed to fly at Mousse, but his reactions were to quick to let himself be caught by such an assault. Mousse had jumped into the air to avoid Kuno's attack, and used the same evasion to attack Kuno. Mousse swiftly shot his foot out towards Kuno's face, while dropping back to the ground. Kuno flew back and skidded across the corridor floor as he came down. After he had come to a halt, Mousse slowly walked towards him, and then knelt down beside him. 'Now.' stated Mousse '.Where is Ranma?'. 


	2. An unusual silence

The bell rang. Ranma felt a feeling of relief wash over him, as he knew he could now at least try and put himself back in Akane's good books for being so senselessly rude to her earlier. However, it was unfortunate that he was totally oblivious to the impending danger that awaited him outside the school entrance. Through the crowds, Ranma managed to catch sight of Akane. 'Akane!' he shouted in anticipation. She looked over her shoulder, and her eyes met his. She frowned, and turned away, continuing to walk as she did. Ranma wasn't as easily deterred as that though. Within seconds, he was by her side. 'It's not nice to ignore people like that Akane, no wonder you're such a loner.' he said in an intentionally aggravating way. 'I AM NOT A LONER!' she screamed! 'Angry again right? Wow, what a surprise.' he muttered sarcastically.  
  
As they proceeded to walk round the corner, two students ran by carrying a stretcher, with Kuno occupying it, moaning in pain. Akane pondered on what had happened, usually it was either her or Ranma inflicting any damage upon Kuno, and she knew that it was unlikely that any other student in the school could put Kuno down. She tried to remember, that even though he was no real threat to herself or Ranma, the normal students wouldn't stand a chance. She smiled to herself. She just realised that she had called every other student 'normal'. Did she think so little of herself, that she thought she was less normal than any of them? She reassured herself that everyone has their own individual tastes, skills, and aspects. Ranma didn't seem to care what had happened to Kuno, he just assumed that he'd done his usual trick: picked a pointless fight with someone, tried to dazzle them with his fancy talk, then got pummelled anyway.  
  
They both remained silent as they approached the door to exit. Not because they sensed the danger that would follow, but because they were both wrapped up in their own thoughts and dilemmas. Ranma put his hand out to push the door open.  
  
As he opened the door, he looked upwards to discover an enthusiastic figure jumping up and down shouting 'Ranma!'. Shampoo looked as eager as ever, her presence almost immediately made Akane feel uncomfortable. She knew how Shampoo wanted Ranma, and she couldn't help feeling insecure about the whole thing. What if Ranma actually decided that he preferred Shampoo to her? No one could stop him from breaking off his engagement if he felt that determined anyhow. However she decided to be pleasant with the cheerful young warrior, it would probably make Shampoo feel even more confident if she let on that she felt even slightly threatened by her.  
  
Shampoo grabbed Ranma by the arm, and linked hers with his. Ranma was obviously uncomfortable with this, but slightly flattered. He didn't want to throw her off of him, but yet he couldn't let this carry on in front of Akane.  
  
Mousse glared down from the school roof, upon his unsuspecting target. Mousse felt enraged by the affection that Shampoo seemed to be showing Ranma, and clenched his fist trying to resist the temptation to attack at that very second. With a thought of the day's importance however, his anger quickly subsided. He shifted his glare, now to the vision of Akane, who stood near Ranma's side. Even he could see that she was feeling on edge about Shampoo being the way she was towards Ranma, so why didn't the fool tell Shampoo he wasn't interested in her at all, if he had any real feeling for Akane? Mousse's anger suddenly flared up again. He couldn't stand the thought of someone as perfect and flawless as Shampoo, being besotted with such a womaniser. If there was one thing that truly enraged Mousse, it was a man that strung women along. He had told himself earlier that day that he would not strike until the time was right, but his anger could not be held down any longer. With one swift movement, he rapidly began to descend downwards, towards what he saw the biggest obstacle of his life. But right now Ranma was not just an obstacle and threat to him. He was an enemy.  
  
'Ranma go with Shampoo. Shampoo make future husband big dinner' Shampoo said gleefully. 'No, no, I don't want to give you any unnecessary work' Ranma responded hesitantly. Akane had heard enough. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she had chance to get the words out, the sight of a swiftly moving figure, heading for the ground from the roof above. Ranma and Shampoo both realised that Akane had noticed something, so they both turned their views upwards. Shampoo recognised Mousse immediately. 'Mousse..?' she said curiously. She wondered what stupidity he was trying to attempt to impress her now. About ten seconds from hitting the ground, Mousse flung his arm out, and a wire shot out, hitting a nearby tree branch as it did, breaking Mousse's fall. Instead of letting himself hit the ground, Mousse used the momentum of the fall, to swing himself in Ranma's direction. As he got nearer to Ranma, he put himself more and more into a position where he could suddenly attack at the last second. Ranma could see what Mousse was doing, he had practised manoeuvres like this with his Father daily in his earlier years. Instinctively, he pushed Shampoo from him, much to her confusion, and then leaped backwards to avoid Mousse's kick just in time. After both martial artists hit the floor, silence quickly fell. Akane stared in a concerned way at both warriors. She felt concerned for Ranma's welfare, and probably even more concerned for Mousse. This was not the usual behaviour she expected from him. If he was going to challenge Ranma, he would have at least said something by now. It was an eerie silence, unusual silence that came from Mousse. It frightened her. Shampoo ironically, gazed only at Mousse. She worked with Mousse every day, saw him every day. By now she knew his character, and this was just not it. She didn't know if she felt very confused, or just plain shocked. Ranma was concentrating, he had momentarily pondered on the reason for this cold, unprovoked attack, but quickly adjusted himself to think only of what may happen next.  
  
The atmosphere was disturbing. The wind blew strangely over them all, and the sky was turning from a pale blue, to a dark orange rapidly. Only the four of them were in Vicinity of the area, and the tension was growing rapidly. Finally, one of them spoke. 'So, what's it this time Mousse?' shouted Ranma. 'Have I dishonoured Shampoo, or done her wrong in some way again, or is this just another go at defeating me so you can marry her?'. Ranma waited patiently for a response, but he did not receive one. Ranma spoke to Shampoo but did not take his eyes off Mousse. 'Do you know what this is about Shampoo?'. Shampoo took her gaze from Mousse, and turned to Ranma. 'Shampoo not know why Mousse attack Ranma' she responded. The confusion could be heard in the tone of her voice. She decided she would ask him herself . 'Why Mousse silent and try kick Ranma?' she inquired. Mousse remained silent. His eyes had been fixed on Ranma from the moment he hit the ground. Shampoo also started to feel as Akane did, uneasy. The unusual silence that came from him was so out of character, it was making them all want to shudder. Ranma felt a degree of this, but tried to keep his calm. He knew that whatever Mousse was here for, he was deadly serious about it. That much was clear.  
  
Mousse himself, was letting his anger build up. He was still enraged by what he had seen, but letting it slowly build up, and when he was ready, he would let his anger explode, and unleash it's fury upon Ranma. At the back of his mind, he knew that the real reason for his anger was because of this day. If he had witnessed this any other day, he would have just cursed at Ranma, and possibly more if he felt it was necessary. But he had never been so enraged, so set alight by Shampoo's obvious disregard for his feelings. Still, he blamed Ranma, and he had reasons to fight Ranma anyway, so why not take out his frustration on him? Now, he decided it was time to stop thinking. He decided, that now was the time to act.  
  
Suddenly, both opponents took to the air, as if some unsaid command had been given. Akane and Shampoo watched on in horror, as the two martial artists rapidly shot towards each other, for a deadly head on collision. At that moment, it became clear to both girls, that within the next few seconds, this confrontation would be over for one of these determined fighters. 


	3. A deadly blessing in disguise

Before both opponents reached a climax, Mousse flicked his arm to the side, releasing several ball objects. Ranma instantly saw these harmless looking contraptions flying towards him, and almost automatically turned himself around to avoid them. He knew that anything Mousse had in his arsenal was some kind of weapon. As he had turned to avoid the attacks, Ranma had also unintentionally avoided his aerial collision with Mousse, and both fighters hit the floor on the opposite side from which they had started.  
  
Mousse didn't waste any time. He swiftly turned back to face Ranma, and threw three miniature sized knifes at Ranma. Ranma easily avoided them however, and as the deadly weapons flew past their target, they missed the nearby Akane by inches. Mousse saw this, and took it into account. He knew that if the battle continued, one of the two girls would possibly end up getting hit in the crossfire. Coming back to reality, and out of his silent rage, Mousse sharply fled from the school pathway.  
  
Ranma looked away from Akane just in time to see the white blur of what was Mousse, leap over the distant wall.  
  
Ranma sharply turned himself back to Akane, breathing a huge sigh of relief as he did. He was soon by her side. 'Did they hit you? Are you ok?!' he said, sounding more concerned than he'd intended to. 'I'm fine, nothing touched me' she said, in an almost confused way. She couldn't think why he was showing such concern towards her. She had her suspicions that he felt more deeply about her than he let on, but this seemed to show that more than ever. He quickly realised how what he had said sounded, it was obvious by the look on her face what she was thinking. He tried to think of a way he could correct this, by giving some sarcastic comment as a deterrent. Why should he really though? He had no reason not to be concerned about her after all.  
  
Shampoo looked on in a daze. She could not truly contemplate what had just happened, had Mousse gone mad? Had her Great Grandmother lost her temper with him because of his casual clumsiness, and cast some kind of ancient Amazon spell that had caused his to go insane? She seriously doubted that either of her speculations were true, but she could think of no other reason. Mousse was not the type of person to attack so violently and coldly, especially without breathing a single word as to why.  
  
Mousse was running through the deserted streets. He knew that the event that had just taken place was a mistake that he should have avoided. That was not the right time for his attack, he should have waited until his instincts had told him otherwise. He was acting on pure rage, nothing less. He realised the error of his approach, and decided that next time, would be much different, at the same time reminding himself that there certainly would be a next time.  
  
Akane started to walk home, followed very closely by Ranma. She smirked victoriously. 'You sounded concerned for me earlier.' She said, still smirking. 'I think you look to much into these things Akane, I was only asking.' He snapped, trying to get himself out of the awkward position he had put himself into. She smiled, knowing nothing more needed to be said. He was having a hard time to stop his face from turning red. He couldn't have helped what he did at the time though, he did it out of pure concern, nothing else. As they walked on, it seemed to get darker. The whole street, was now lit up by a dark blue light, emitted by the now star lit sky. Suddenly, Akane seemed to trip over something on the floor, the darkness was getting thicker, and she could not possibly have seen it. She gasped in panic, but just before she hit the floor, she felt two strong hands, grab her by the waist from behind. As she felt herself being lifted upwards back on to her feet, she turned to find herself looking at Ranma, with his hands still on her waist. 'Thank you..' she whispered out sounding shocked and grateful at the same time. 'No problem..' he said blushing slightly. They suddenly found themselves both staring at the floor. Akane suddenly realised that her hands were glued to his, she must have grabbed hold of them out of instinct when she started to fall. He also realised that his hands were still on her waist, and simultaneously, both jerked off from each other as quickly as they could, and once again found themselves staring at the ground.  
  
Watching from a nearby rooftop, Mousse carefully examined the situation. His target was situated with a companion, in a deserted back alley. It was the perfect time to strike. He moved himself into position as if to suddenly strike, but he found himself hesitating. He calmed himself, and knew that it was rage driving him to attack once again. He had seen him stop Akane from falling, and that had just made him grow even more aggressive. He had probably tripped her himself just to get his hands on her with his perverted mind anyway. He knew this was not true, he had seen Akane trip, and knew that Ranma could not have possibly done anything of the sort, but he was looking for reasons which he could base his next attack on. He did not know when his next assault would be, but he knew that the correct time would present itself to him soon.  
  
As they both reached their destination, Akane and Ranma both felt strangely tired. 'After you..' whispered Ranma, still a little embarrassed from their contact just minutes earlier. Not one word had been spoken since, until now. 'O-ok.' she mumbled shyly. As she walked in, she saw her Father and Genma were outside sitting by the pond, probably plotting some scheme to get her into Ranma's arms. That line of thought, instantly made the contact they had felt earlier, flashback through her mind in an instant. She turned around and faced him for a second, but swiftly turned back around again. She could not understand why she was felt so awkward, all he had done was caught her. But she was trying to block out the true reason she felt so awkward. She knew her heart had skipped a beat when they had touched, and that she felt overjoyed inside when she felt his hands firmly stop her from falling to the ground. She couldn't stand the thought that he may not feel the same way she did about it. She wanted to be alone to think about how she should try and cover up her feelings, and quickly ran out the room, and headed for the dojo. He looked on, and saw her exit the room. He assumed it was because she felt sorry for him, because maybe she knew how much she meant to him, and that he wished that he could have held on to her for longer before. She probably pitied him, after all, there was no way she felt the same for him, as he did for her.  
  
Shampoo walked slowly back through the still busy streets, to the cat café. It was always busy in these parts, day or night, there was no gap to be found in the crowds. She felt depressed, but her confusion was washing that feeling out of her head. She had never seen him be so cold, so aimlessly aggressive. Was he that way over her? Had she done something to offend him that much? She wouldn't really have cared at all if it was one of his stupid attempts at beating Ranma, so he could have her, but it seemed to be more than that. He seemed to be doing it for something else. She couldn't put her finger on exactly what was going on, but if anything, she knew that this was not normal behaviour from Mousse, anything but. She reached the café, and it's vision gave her a good idea. She could ask her Great Grandmother if she thought anything was amiss, if anyone would know, she probably would.  
  
She was trying to lose herself in her moves, but Akane just couldn't concentrate. Ranma holding her and Mousse going crazy was more than enough to distract her. She had now changed into her uniform, and was practicing basic attack stances. She took herself out of position, and bent down slightly to catch her breath. Just as she was about to start up again, she looked up to see Ranma sitting cross legged in front of her. 'I don't know why you bother, with that kind of practice, you'll never get better anyway' he murmured. 'SHUT UP, I am so getting better, I just have a lot on my mind today. that's all' she responded, feeling her heart quicken, realising what she had just said. 'Like what...?' he asked inquisitively. She did not answer and they both stood in silence, both knowing what the other was thinking.  
  
'Listen Akane. if it's about before.'  
  
'It's not.'  
  
'Are you sure? If so then why are you shaking?'  
  
'I'm not shaking. You probably enjoyed grabbing me anyway you pervert!' she snapped viciously. 'So that's your idea of thanks is it?!' he shouted strongly.  
  
'Thanks?! You were the one who grabbed me you idiot, I didn't need your help.'  
  
'You'd have preferred me to have let your face hit the floor then?!'  
  
'I wouldn't have cared.'  
  
'I'm out of here, don't expect any help from me again!' he bellowed as he began to stomp out towards the door. Just as he reached the door, a white blur seemed to be moving towards the dojo from the distance. As the object slowly got closer, Ranma realised it was some kind of weapon, and it was heading straight for him. He got read to leap into safety, but seconds before it's arrival, he saw that it was not heading for him, but for over his shoulder, If he didn't act fast, it would surely hit the unsuspecting Akane.  
  
Using the momentum of his jump, he leaped backwards and screamed 'Akane look out!'. She looked up in confusion and wondered what he was talking about, but before she could say a word, he had already grabbed her, and taken her to the floor along with him. As she went down, she saw a swift moving object, travelling sharply over their heads, in panic she closed her eyes. The now recognisable knife, hit the dojo wall, piercing into it.  
  
She waited a few seconds, and opened her eyes, to find him on top of her. She had landed underneath him, with his arms firmly on the sides of her shoulders. Her hands were clutching tightly to his shirt around his chest area, as she saw the knife she must have grabbed onto him in panic. He began to feel awkward like he had done before again, and would have jumped off of her right there and then if she hadn't been clutching to him. It wasn't that he didn't want to be so close to her, but he didn't think she wanted him this close. They looked at each other now, straight into the others eyes. She didn't mean to, but she couldn't help herself clutch to him stronger as she looked into his eyes. He still felt awkward, yet he knew that he felt happier than ever before with her in his arms. 'Are.you ok? He whispered gently. She said nothing, she couldn't bring herself to speak. They stared at each other for at least another six seconds, without one word being spoken. She felt her whole body going weak, and her eyes began to close halfway shut. 'Ranma.' she said almost pining. He looked at her gently, and a small smile speared on his face for a second. He felt at ease now. Their faces were only centimetres apart, and slowly, hesitantly, he moved his closer to hers. She found herself almost unable to breath, and then closed her eyes as she waited for him to make the contact she secretly longed for. He was now so close, she could feel his breath on her face. 


End file.
